


Just be my date?

by ninaswritings



Category: Anastasia (1997), Anastasia - Flaherty/Ahrens/McNally
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, dmitry needs a date for a wedding and asks anya only to find out he actually has feelings for her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-06 06:49:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14051334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ninaswritings/pseuds/ninaswritings
Summary: When Dmitry's best friend Vlad gets married, Dmitry is about desperate for anything when it comes to bringing a plus-one, especially when he discovers his ex is bringing her new boyfriend. So if that means taking his slightly estranged friend Anya, who won't  even talk to him, to the wedding so he can at least pretend to have a girlfriend, then so be it.





	Just be my date?

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by an anon sending me prompts on Tumblr, but it turned out to be too long for Tumblr so I'm posting it here. (also please note that English is not my first language so if there are any mistakes vocabulary or grammar wise... please bear with me)

“It can’t be, that of all the women in St. Petersburg, not one of them want to go out with this pretty face,” Dmitry complained to Vlad. He was sat across a table from the older man, and they were sitting outside a café, enjoying the warm, sunny day.  
“Maybe you’re just not as handsome as you think you are,” Vlad replied, chuckling in his drink.   
“That’s a lie and we both know it.”  
Dmitry took another sip of his coffee and looked out into the street, partially hoping for one of the women to throw themselves at his feet, begging him to be his date.   
“I might have an idea,” Vlad started. “But I don’t know if you will like it.”  
At this point, Dmitry was desperate enough that he would probably take anyone who as much as resembled a female and could walk; as long as he didn’t have to go alone, he would be fine.  
“You could always consider taking Anya,” his friend opted.   
Dmitry almost spit out his drink. Okay, maybe not anyone.  
“No,” he said. “No way. And besides, even if I did want to take her, she’d probably say no anyways. I haven’t talked to her in months. I’ve tried to, but she hasn’t responded to any of my messages.”  
“Which is exactly why you should ask her; I can tell you’ve been missing having her around.”  
Dmitry shook his head at the ridiculous idea; Anya was just off-limits. “I can’t really ask her if she won’t talk to me, can I now?”  
“Look, she’s right there,” Vlad said, and pointed down the street. Dmitry turned around in his seat to see what Vlad was pointing at. “You can always try, just ask her. And there’s no time like the present.” And sure, there was the strawberry blonde named Anya, casually making her way through a crowd of thousands.   
Dmitry let out a disgruntled sigh, but also knew he didn’t really have much of a choice if he didn’t want to go alone, and got up out of his seat. The minute he stood straight, he knew that that single, pathetic little toast he had eaten for breakfast had been a bad idea. And it had been an even worse idea to not eat anything else all day, especially with the heat scouring the city. Despite his spinning head, he somehow made his way through the huge crowd. Mixed together with the already hot day, the warmth of a thousand bodies made it unbearable to get through. He had almost made it to Anya when black spots started to appear at the edge of his vision. Next thing he knew, he was lying on the pavement, a concerned (but also slightly annoyed) Anya looking down on him. He managed to push himself up so he was sitting, and waved away any concerned bystanders.  
“I’m fine,” he told them. “Truly.”  
The fact that he recovered from his fall so quickly only seemed to annoy Anya more; or she was just generally annoyed at the sight of him.   
“What’s wrong?” he asked her confused.  
“You fainted,” she explained, glaring at him. “Straight into my arms. You know, if you wanted my attention, you didn’t have to go to such extremes.”  
“Believe me,” the young man replied, getting up on both of his feet again, still not feeling extremely steady. “It wasn’t my intention to faint. But now that I do have your attention,” he continued before she could turn around and leave, “There is something I wanted to ask you. I need a favour.”  
“No,” Anya said immediately. “I told you before; I am not partaking in one of your idiotic plans ever again.”  
She went to walk away, but Dmitry grabbed her by her shirt to stop her (and maybe to balance himself; he should really eat something).  
“Just hear me out, please?” Anya turned around to face him. “I need you to be my date.” Anya laughed; an expected reaction (and a sound Dmitry still believed to be one of the best sounds in the world, even if it was at his expense), but at least she didn’t try to walk away again.   
“There’s this thing, this weekend. A friend of mine, Vlad, is getting married and I may have told him I would bring a date,” Dmitry explained sheepishly.   
“And let me guess,” Anya said. “You don’t have a date.”  
Dmitry shook his head no. “And that’s why I need you.”  
“Yeah, that’s not happening.”  
“I am not going to beg,” Dmitry said, even though he was about ready to. Not that he would give Anya that satisfaction. “But Vlad told me Natalya would be there and that she is bringing a date. And if she has someone and I don’t, I’ll come out as the loser. And I can’t have that. Can you just.. just be my date?” He looked up at her with big puppy eyes. “Come on, Anya. How can you say no to someone who literally just passed out for you?”  
Anya pondered on it for a little, and then sighed. “Fine. I’ll go with you. But,” she said, before Dmitry could rejoice in happiness. “There will be some ground rules.”  
“Fine with me!” Dmitry was so rejoiced in the fact that he wouldn’t have to go alone, he could kiss her; he wouldn’t, but he could. 

“You’re clear on the rules, right?” Anya called out to him from her bedroom. She had told Dmitry to come pick her up at 3, but when he showed up she wasn’t even halfway ready.  
“No intimate touching, no kissing, handholding is allowed if Natalya is watching, and one dance at the reception,” Dmitry cited from the list he had memorized by heart. The one she had asked him to memorize so she could be sure he wouldn’t try and break any of the rules.  
“And?”  
“And,” he continued. “No falling in love with you.” That was a stupid rule; as if he could ever actually fall in love with her. Had there been times when he had thought about the possibility of them back when they were still close? Yes, of course. But it had ended up being nothing more than a close friendship, and whatever little feelings he might have had for Anya were far, far in the past now.  
“Okay, I’m ready.” The door to the bedroom opened and Anya revealed herself; she was wearing a beautiful red cocktail dress, fanning out at her waist and reaching just below her knees.   
“What do you think?” she asked, and did a little spin for him.  
Dmitry was too stunned for actual words. She looked gorgeous. “Wow” was all he managed to get out of his mouth.   
“Thank you,” she said. And then she smiled; the kind of smile that’s usually meant to be hidden; small, soft, not meant to be seen by anyone. It was the most beautiful thing ever, that smile; it was genuine, and lit up her whole face. It made him realize how much he had missed seeing that smile (often when he had seen it she didn’t know he was looking).   
Any and Dmitry had been close up until a few months back; very close. He confided everything in her, from his troublesome past to his even more troubling love life. She had been his best friend, but when he asked her to be part of a scheme doomed to fail, and she had said yes, they had a major fall-out when it inevitably failed and they never truly mended things afterwards.  
“You ready to go?” he asked her, calmly and collecting himself again as to not to reveal his thoughts and forcing his mind back to the present.   
“Yes, I am.” She opened the door of her apartment, and he watched her go.

The car stopped in front of the church. Dmitry got out to open Anya’s door and start the façade of him having succeeded in love. After the driver had been paid and driven off, Dmitry offered Anya his arm. “They sort of have to see us walk through together,” he explained.   
Anya reluctantly took it, and together they walked through the huge, wooden church doors.   
The room was already packed when the two of them walked in; Dmitry was sure he didn’t know half of the people attending. It didn’t take him long to spot Natalya; she was sitting near the front, next to a blond guy who Dmitry could only assume was her date, by the way she kept touching him, clinging on to him.   
Dmitry had never really felt anything for Natalya, even when they were together. It wasn’t like he had brought Anya to make Natalya jealous; he had only done that to show that he was the one better off. But he did feel a little hurt seeing them like that; probably because he missed someone touching him like that. It should be noted that the reason Natalya had broken up with Dmitry was because she suspected Dmitry to have feelings for another woman; that woman being Anya. Dmitry had blatantly dismissed the charge, and most of the time he thought it to be a lie. But every now and then he’d wonder whether Natalya had actually spoken some truth.   
Dmitry and Anya sat down in the row opposite of Natalya and Blond Guy. As soon as they sat, Anya let go of his arm, as agreed upon. She didn’t even say anything of it, didn’t try to make conversation with Dmitry. Luckily, the wedding was about to begin.

After the ceremony (of which Dmitry didn’t really remember anything as he was too aware of Anya sitting next to him), the wedding guests continued to the reception, which was to be held at the Belmond Grand Hotel, located right next to the church so the guests only needed to walk for a little bit. It was a lovely day out; the sun was shining on the procession, people were talking and laughing, the sky was actually visible for once, and Anya was still not saying a word.   
“So…” Dmitry started in an attempt to break the awkward silence between them. “What did you think of the ceremony?”  
“It was alright,” she shrugged in reply.  
“Ah!” Dmitry exclaimed. “You can speak. I was beginning to wonder whether you had lost the ability to do that.”  
“Very funny,” she scowled.  
“No, but seriously Anya. It’s a wedding day, a happy day! Lighten up!”  
“I’m only here so you can show off to Natalya, you do realize that right?”  
“I thought you were here as my friend?”  
“We stopped being friends a long time ago, Dmitry.”  
The two of them continued in silence after that remark; Dmitry didn’t know how to reply. Frankly, he didn’t want to; that comment slightly hurt him. Not that he would tell Anya that. She he stood taller, recollected himself and pretended that it hadn’t bothered him.   
“Dmitry?” a woman’s voice called out from behind them. Dmitry turned around to face a tall, blond woman, with an even taller, blonder guy on her arm like candy; Natalya, and whatever her new flame was called.   
“I almost didn’t recognize you!” she exclaimed, and embraced him as if they were a couple of old friends who hadn’t seen each other in a long time. “You’re looking good. How have you been?”  
“I’m fine,” he lied. Truth was that he had been doing just fine, up until today. “How are you?”  
“I’m great, thanks for asking!” she said with a smile that was slightly too wide, and a voice that sounded slightly too fake. “Have you met Yuri yet?” Upon saying this, she grabbed onto Yuri a little tighter.  
“I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure.” Dmitry held out his hand. “I’m Dmitry. Sudayev.”  
Yuri shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”  
As expected, things were getting awkward again. Then Dmitry remembered the reason why he had brought a certain girl along. “Oh, Natalya, you remember Anya, right?”   
“I do,” Natalya replied, and went to embrace Anya. She had always been like that; all touchy. He could tell Anya did not care for it at all. “How have you been, dear? You know,” she continued before Anya could utter a word, “I am so glad the two of you found each other. You are just perfect together.” Again, there was that too-bright tone. How could a person be this excited?  
“We are.. very happy together,” Dmitry managed to get out, but even he had a hard time believing it. He put his arm around Anya’s shoulder, and Anya happily nodded along.   
“Yes, we are.” To anyone else, the smile she had put on might have seemed real, but Dmitry knew better.   
Finally, they arrived at the Grand Hotel, and Natalya had spotted someone else she recognized.  
“Well, we should get going,” she said. And that was that; Natalya was off.  
“Thank you, I guess,” Dmitry said when he and Anya were alone again.   
“You’re welcome.”  
Inside, Anya and Dmitry found their seats, at a table at which he knew no one. He guessed he had Vlad to thank for that.  
Dinner started, and although Dmitry was chatting up everyone at the table, Anya didn’t say a word the entire time. So much for putting up a scheme. After a delicious dinner (at least better than most wedding food) the happy couple opened up the dance floor with their first dance. Obviously they had had someone choreograph the whole thing; it was eccentric and wild; just like them.   
The dance ended, and everyone got up from their tables to go to the dance floor; everyone except for Dmitry and Anya.  
“Excuse me,” Anya said, and she got up, not even mentioning to Dmitry where she was going. Not to the dancefloor, he noted as she walked out of sight. As soon when Anya was gone, Dmitry spotted Vlad walking towards his table.  
“Hey man,” Dmitry greeted him. “Congratulations.”  
“Thanks. Are you enjoying yourself? I couldn’t help but notice that you brought Anya; glad to know you followed my advice,” the older man smirked. “You two do make a charming couple.”  
“What’s that supposed to mean?”  
“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about, Dmitry. I know you’ve had a thing for Anya for quite some time.”  
“That was months ago.”  
“And you never got over it.”  
“Pffft,” Dmitry said, dismissing the comment. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”  
“If you say so.” Vlad got up again. “Also, Lily sent me to tell you and Anya should get “off your asses and dance” because apparently you two are bringing the mood down by just sitting here sulking.”  
“I want to dance; it’s Anya who refuses to even talk to me.”  
“Hey, don’t shoot the messenger. I’m just doing what I’m told.” Vlad smiled, thanked Dmitry for coming to the wedding, and went back to the dance floor.   
A minute later, Anya reappeared, not saying a word. Again.  
“Hey,” Dmitry started; he might as well try to ask her, right? What was the hurt in that? “Do you maybe want to dance? I mean, you did say I could have one dance with you.”  
“Fine,” Anya replied, shrugging; she didn’t seem too excited about it. Dmitry decided to ignore that and got up, took her hand and pulled her to the dance floor. And just with his luck the band had started to play a slow song.  
“You know what,” he said, already turning to go back to the table. “Maybe we should sit this one out.”  
“No,” Anya said as she pulled him back to the crowd. “You wanted to dance, so we dance.”   
They found a relatively clear spot on the floor, kind of away from the crowd where the music wasn’t too loud. Anya wrapped her arms around Dmitry’s neck, and he put his hands on her waist. He had always been slightly clumsy with dancing, and tonight was no different. Vlad had tried to teach him once, but ended up deciding that Dmitry was a hopeless case. So, they were just slightly shuffling on the music, while Dmitry was paying very careful attention to where Anya’s feet were.   
“Have I mentioned yet how beautiful you look tonight?” He asked her, slightly out of the blue. Dancing, and just being, so close to her had made old feelings he hadn’t realized he had resurface.  
“No. But thank you.” Dmitry looked down at her, and actually noticed a slight smile spreading on her lips; that secret smile he had seen earlier.   
“Look, Anya…” he started. He didn’t really know how to do this, but he knew he had to. After all, he had never truly apologized for how things had gone south. “About what happened, a few months ago...” He stopped, trying to find the right words. He had never been really good with those; not in uncomfortable situations anyways.  
“Yes?” He was staring down at his own feet, but could feel her head moving up to look at him.   
“I’m sorry,” he eventually said, and lifted his eyes up to hers. “I know that barely covers it, and it’s not nearly enough for what went down. And I just want you to know that.. that I never meant for any of it to happen, and I definitely did not mean for you to get hurt. So… sorry.”  
“You are?”  
Dmitry nodded. “If there’s anything I can do to make it up to you…”  
“Don’t worry about it too much. I’m glad you apologized. Took you long enough.”   
She smiled, and so did Dmitry.  
They were still holding each other, even though the song had ended. Neither of them seemed eager to mention it, however.   
“Anya?” he began wondering, out loud. “Do you… do you ever think that maybe, in another universe or timeline or whatever, one in which I hadn’t screwed up, you and I… could have maybe become more?”  
“Sometimes,” she admitted. “Yeah.”  
Dmitry looked into her eyes again; God, they were beautiful. He had forgotten how beautiful and captivating they were. It seemed that Dmitry had forgotten lots of things about her the past few months; more than he had actually realized.   
They kept dancing, even though the beat of the music had gone up and there was no reason for them to be shuffling anymore. It didn’t seem to bother them, and so they kept dancing in their little corner, far away from the crowd. Until, finally, Dmitry did something he had never expected himself to do; not until tonight anyways. He leaned over, and kissed her. Lucky for him, she kissed him back.


End file.
